My struggle with weight after pregnancy

"I didn't mean to gain weight. It just happened." Have you ever walked into a mall and you spot a very gorgeous dress and you just start picturing yourself wearing it? You approach the shop selling the dress you hold the dress, and the owner rushes out to sell to you only to give you an unpleasant look and angrily tells you off "Madam huwezi toshea hapo utararua iyo nguo!" Madam sorry you cannot fit in that dress; you will tear it out!

For me, weight loss is a journey. I call it a journey simply because it took me time to get to where I am today. Growing up as a child and as a teenager, I was never a chunky person; rather, I was slim and small. When I went to college, it became even worse for me because I could skip lunch most of the time, not because I wanted to but because of financial constraints, which it's normal for most of the students. Skipping lunch was one, but again, I would walk a distance to where my house was. I remember going home after I completed college, and people would give me this unpleasant look. It affected me in a away, but there is nothing I could do about how I looked.

Being a slim person, I could consume almost everything edible; junk foods, sugary drinks, and all other foodstuffs that are considered unhealthy for consumption. I got married, and a few years later, I gave birth to a bouncy baby girl. My physical appearance changed, and within a month, I could weigh a whopping 70 kg as compared to what I weighed before, which was 45kg. This really lowered my Self Esteem. When going for family outings with my family, I could not take full photos only selfies, and sometimes I would end up deleting the selfies because I saw myself being chubby. I missed my other self; I now preferred the skinny me. I remember my siblings making fun of me and calling me "msichana fupi nono round." "Short chunky round girl.

I remember one fine morning, I boarded a matatu heading to town to run some errands and while alighting the taut shouted, ­ "Wee dere hebu simama uyu mama ashuke." I felt insulted not because he called me mama, but to me, that word mama made me feel old. After the incident, it's when I decided to start my journey to fit. I would spend most of my free time online looking for ways on how to lose weight. It's said that for you to begin weight loss, you must have a fitness coach or a mentor. For me, I followed Jane Mukami, a fitness coach online. I did the 21days of change with Jane, and the results after a month were spectacular. Since I was still breastfeeding and nursing a C-section wound and the fact that I was anxious about losing weight, I decided to check on my diet, eating healthy and eating clean that is no junk at all, avoiding carbonated drinks, drinking lots of water, and taking tea without sugar. I also did some home workouts like prank, skipping without a rope, hills to heaven, among others. It was never an easy journey. But I did it anyway.

After a month of toiling, most of my friends told me that I had changed and I looked amazing with my new look. I also loved my new look, I felt more confident, and most of my clothes could now fit me. Not all could appreciate my new me; others thought I was not okay that I was stressed but who cares? I was happy with how I looked, and that is what mattered. Within a span of one month, I was able to lose 35 pounds. I am not yet there, but I am somewhere.